G20 Summit: UK PM Rishi Sunak Announces USD 2 Bn Green Climate Fund

New Delhi: United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a record climate aid commitment as the G20 Summit in India nears its commencement, said the British High Commission in India on Sunday. The UK will provide USD 2 billion to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) which is the biggest single funding commitment the UK has made to help the world tackle climate change, which was established by 194 countries following the Copenhagen Accord at COP15.

“Uplift makes a significant contribution towards the UK’s pledge to spend 11.6bn Pounds on international climate finance, cementing our global climate leadership. UK continues to show global climate leadership, having cut emissions faster than any other G7 country,” said a release by the British High Commission.

This is the UK’s biggest single financial contribution to helping the world’s most vulnerable people adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change. The GCF is the largest global fund dedicated to supporting developing countries to reduce global emissions and help communities adapt to the effects of climate change.

Today’s pledge represents a 12.7 per cent increase on the UK’s previous contribution to the GCF for the period of 2020-2023, which was itself a doubling of our initial funding to establish the fund in 2014, the release added.

At the G20 Summit UK PM Sunak has called on leaders to work together ahead of the COP28 Summit this December to both reduce their countries’ own carbon emissions and support vulnerable economies to deal with the consequences of climate change.

Addressing G20 leaders, Sunak said, “The UK is stepping up and delivering on our climate commitments, both by decarbonising our own economy and supporting the world’s most vulnerable to deal with the impact of climate change.”

“This is the kind of leadership that the world rightly expects from G20 countries. And this government will continue to lead by example in making the UK, and the world, more prosperous and secure,” he added.

The UK has led international efforts to help developing countries tackle climate change, including by pledging to spend 11.6 billion pounds on international climate finance between 2021 and 2026. This announcement marks a “major contribution towards this commitment and follows the Prime Minister’s announcement at COP27 that the UK would triple our funding for climate adaptation,” according to the release.

Alongside this uplift in the UK’s contribution to the GCF, which is expected to again make the country one of the largest donors to the fund, the UK Government will continue to stress the importance of the GCF delivering results with even greater speed, demonstrating value for money in all of its activities. This includes asking the GCF to further improve its delivery for those countries most vulnerable to climate change, particularly Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, said the release.

Sunak began the last day of the G20 Summit with a visit to Akshardham temple accompanied by his wife Akshata Murty. From the temple, he reached Rajghat, where along with other G20 leaders, he paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi.